GOING DUTCH

It was mission accomplished for Tom Huddlestone as England U21s beat Germany to book a place in next summer's European Championship finals in Holland on Tuesday night.

It was mission accomplished for Tom Huddlestone as England U21s beat Germany to book a place in next summer's European Championship finals in Holland on Tuesday night.

Tom played the full 90 minutes in the second leg of the play-off in Bayer Leverkusen's BayArena as late goals from Theo Walcott saw England home 2-0 on the night, 3-0 on aggregate. They will now take their place in the finals in Holland between June 10-23, 2007.

With Tom anchoring the midfield, it was a tense night for Peter Taylor's squad as Germany recovered from the early dismissal of Markus Brzenska to enjoy the lion's share of possession.

They missed a golden chance to level the tie when Gonzalo Castro struck a controversially-awarded penalty wide in the first half but seized control of the match when Steven Taylor was sent off for a second bookable offence on the hour.

However, the hosts pressure came to nothing and as the game opened up, Tom's passes sent England away on a number of breaks that they failed to capitalise on.

That all changed in the 84th minute when substitute Walcott raced clear to slot home the opener and put the issue beyond the Germans. He added a second in injury time to complete a memorable victory.